U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm arrives at the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Tuesday.

REUTERS

A federal judge on Tuesday set U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm’s tax fraud trial date for Dec. 1, against objections by the congressman’s lawyers.

Mr. Grimm, a Republican congressman representing Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, is running for another term in the Nov. 4 election.

His attorneys appearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, asked for the trial to be pushed back by another month, providing what they called a “cooling off period.” U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen denied that request and set the Dec. 1 date.

Jeffrey Neiman, one of Mr. Grimm’s lawyers, said Democrats are airing negative television advertisements about his client referencing the charges. He argued this could prejudice potential jurors against Mr. Grimm.

“We are obviously in the heart of the election cycle,” he said. “We’re concerned about ensuring Mr. Grimm has a fair trial…We’re concerned there could be prejudice.”

But Judge Chen said the Brooklyn federal courthouse deals with “many cases of notoriety every day” and that a one-month delay would do nothing to prevent prejudice.

“That, I don’t find compelling,” she said.

Judge Chen said it might be difficult to find jurors who “hadn’t heard something about this case.” But she said the court would eliminate any potential bias through jury selection procedures.

Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, unveiled a 20-count indictment against Mr. Grimm in April. It included charges of tax fraud, employing illegal immigrants and other alleged crimes stemming from when he owned and operated a Manhattan health-food restaurant.

Mr. Grimm and his attorneys declined to comment outside the courthouse after the brief hearing. He will next appear in court Nov. 20 for a pretrial status conference.

John Antoniello, chairman of the Staten Island Republican Party, was in court for the hearing. He said he didn’t expect the case would hurt Mr. Grimm’s re-election bid. “I think he will [win]” he said.

Asked if he agreed with the defense attorney’s arguments that Democratic Party attack adverts could taint the jury pool, Mr. Antoniello replied: “Only time will tell; we’ll see.”